Hook on a Line [Open]

    It was pretty peaceful out near the lake today. While it was partly cloudy with a small chance of rain, Halcyon wasn't dissuaded to let something as rain to mess with his day. It was a free day for the knight as he sat on a rock with a fishing line out on the surface of the lake. The careful bobbing of the surface made waves outward from the lure and interrupted the smoothness of the water. With a drawn out breath of smoke, Halcyon tapped on this cigarette, laying down on a lawn chair as his fishing pole was in one hand and the other resting between his head and the chair.

    The chilling air was enough to make anyone shiver, but Halcyon only treated it like a harmless breeze. Halcyon didn't have any classes as of now, and most of his staff work was already done in advance. Once he realized that he didn't have anything else to do, he decided that he'll try fishing today, since he hasn't done so ever since he got on this island. He checked his phone for the time, 3:53 pm. There was still time to sit around and wait. For the last hour, he had only caught two fish which were both about 16 cm in length. He released another puff of smoke as it faded away into the air.

‘Chef,’ the little punk she called her dishwasher said, as he snapped his fingers and summoned a pack of Lucky Strikes. ‘Go smoke that cold turkey.’
When his bad-pun-speaking grin was met with her attempt to strangle him using just her glare, he quickly added, ‘come on, you’re killing us today with the temper. At least go for a walk or something, come back at five. We got this.’

Chathra turned the pack over in her palm. It was warm from her pocket and she hated that, because it meant she had failed to throw them away, even though she literally had no idea where they came from. Even though she was at a damn school. Even though she was supposed to make it through one day, cold turkey. The box crumpled slightly as she gripped it too hard, burying it back deep into the pockets of her leather jacket, as if she could forget about it down there while she moved further and further from the from the smoke-free zone that was the school.

It was chilly out, but it only made her strides brisker as if to catch more cold air on her face. It was unforgiving, unpleasant enough to keep her alert and distracted from that which should have been thrown away by now. Damn that dishwasher. She wanted to blame him for summoning it, but he was right. She’d been a sarcastic ass ever since she started her shift at 3am that day. And it wasn’t his fault she had the restraint of a dog in a room with its own vomit. For fuck’s sake, she was still trekking through the forest, towards the lake where she could finally--

She grunted to herself and shook her head. Go on. Throw it now, in the middle of the forest. Make some dumb kid’s day. Chathra hated herself deeper for thinking that. She let the cold air refrigerate her lungs as the lake's shore lapped beneath her sneakers, standing there with her hands in her pockets. Her own pulse at the end of her swollen fingertips made the pack seem like it had a heart of its own as she took it out. She could throw it into the lake. Sure, there were water-breathers, but she heard no one swam too deep. Loch Ness monster or giant squid or whatever. Maybe she could make its day instead.

The thought made her chuckle as she wound up a pitching stance, only to stop from a blur in the corner of her eye--someone about to catch her polluting the water. Staring right at him, she dropped her arm to her side, then her leg to the ground. Of course, it had to be a smoker. At least he didn’t look underage, but she’d spent enough time here to know appearances meant shit-all to magic. She sighed, hunching her shoulders as she looked back down at the pack in her hand. Her thumb flipped it open.

Fuck it. She stuck a cigarette between her nearly-grit teeth as she approached the fisher, trying to wave him down.
‘Hey buddy,’ she muttered, her words stiff as she talked with the unlit cigarette in the corner of her mouth. ‘Hate being that guy, but you got a light?’